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04-21-2004, 02:00 PM
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#101 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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August 2006
We get word about the contracts that run out after this year – and the list is pretty routine. Mario Dadic, who is 33 years old, is nearly out of contract – and so are younger players Lee Connolly and James Carter. We will have some decisions to make mid-season this year, as we would expect. Among the First Division clubs, Sheffield Wednesday, Middlesbrough, and Coventry are tabbed as preseason favorites for promotion. Leeds, Stoke, and Q.P.R. are also considered to be likely contenders. We are pegged at 80-1… though we were longshots in Second Division as well. We’ll see – but I have a hard time imagining we are anything more than mediocre player at this level this season. We open up our regular season of league play at Sincil Bank, home to Sheffield Wednesday – a top-tier club according to the touts. They get a lead off a corner kick at 31, and our score to draw even is disallowed, leaving us behind at the half. At the 90 minute mark, we get even right after a corner kick, as newcomer Miguel Angel Lucena strikes for his first Lincoln goal, getting us even for the final. Lincoln 1, Sheff Wed 1. Paul Kamara had a dreadful debut for the season, according to his final match rating of 4. (It was his offside that wiped our first goal – that could play a big role in that number) That’s very unlike him – I’m checking for signs of him being unsettled. At the moment, he looks fine – I hope he can quickly get out of that rut, as we need our best player to be sharp if we’re going to compete. We’re back in action against Grimsby Town, in the League Cup. At their place, we are looking for a good effort to move on, and I have most of our first team still in. Paul Russell nets a goal at 21 minutes to give us an early lead. They pull even before the half, as our defenders just miss a challenge and leave an open shot for Magill. At 79 minutes, I am delighted to see Paul Kamara nail a great shot for a go-ahead goal – much needed. We tack another one on late, and get the win and some momentum. Lincoln 3, Grimsby 1 – Lincoln advance. We are at Derby’s Pride Park, facing an unfamiliar foe in league play. I have subs in to start here, as some of our first team is a bit worn down. After getting en early edge, we yield two goals to fall behind by early in the second half. Brian Watkins comes in for a tired Mario Dadic, and makes some very nice plays down the stretch – leading to two late goals on the transition, and putting us ahead. He won’t make the scoresheet himself, but Watkins made an impression with his manager there. Lincoln 3, Derby 2. Regrettably, Watkins comes out of the match with a ding – he has a fractured wrist, and will miss some three weeks. Bad timing, pal. Tamworth have made an offer of £35,000 for Dave Saunders. We’re not terribly deep at goalkeeper, but I’m pretty sold that Saunders is not part of the solution. I accept this offer, and will work toward getting another, younger, keeper into the fold fairly soon. This makes Brian Hardy, who himself is unsettled and transfer listed, our only reserve keeper. This is a fairly urgent situation – we’ll get something worked out shortly, hopefully. We are home to Tranmere in a league match, and have our starting group mostly back in place. I am giving Brian Hardy a start in goal, hoping to get him some confidence and form. We get a reasonable effort all around, but our offense fails to click, and we settle for a score draw. Lincoln 0, Tranmere 0. Brian Hardy was okay – it’s our vacant attack that was worrisome. |
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04-21-2004, 02:00 PM
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#102 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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September 2006
It’s too early to get worked up over the league table, so I’ll just note that we have earned a respectable eighth place through three opening matches, with one win and two draws. Middlesbrough and Crewe Alexandra look like the early hot starters, tied atop the table right now. Paul Kamara is going to see some action with the England Under 21 side – nice exposure for him, and we can work through any absences. Jim Magill and Gary Doyle are both on Ireland’s national team roster – so we might have some issues with them also. I think we have isolated the target young keeper that we have sought – Grimsby has young Ryan Parker on their reserve squad, and my scout loves his potential. He has very impressive ratings, and I suspect he’d move right into a starting rotation. We offer £100,000 – and are up against Middlesbrough here. At Coventry, we look pretty flat all told, and suffer our first league loss. We got a few shots on goal, but nothing with much zip – and end up getting blanked again. Coventry 2, Lincoln 0. We need a little more spice in the attack, of this isn’t going to work out – our defense is okay, but not strong enough to carry us the whole way. Grimsby’s Ryan Parker has agreed terms with Middlesbrough. He rejected the offer from Lincoln. He goes on to talk about his excited he is to join their club – but we end up empty handed, and still in pretty dire need of another usable keeper. Back to the player searches we go. We are back home to Preston North End, and would very much like to see something go right. At the halftime break, we still have yet to score – this is getting very concerning. It takes until 69 minutes, but we finally break though – Kamara scores off a rebound, and we get a lead. In the next ten minutes, it’s like we popped the cork – and we tally two more goals on three good shots. Lincoln 3, Preston 0. This is much more like I want out club to play – and it ought to help our ever-important morale, too. For about the past year, I’ve been getting an offer every month or two from Wolves, seeking defender Lee Marsh. Up to now, they have been predictable lowball offers - £22,000 or so for a solid starter. However, we now have an offer on the table of £70,000 for him. I’m still not interested, bit it seems that they have decided to get a little more serious. We’ll see where this goes – Marsh has been solid, but not a real star for us. After a little dabbling, I have acquired an intriguing young goalkeeper – 16 year old Jamie Green. He has been in the youth system of Crystal Palace for a while – my scouts love him, and we will give him a shot to contribute. We will get him into the fold pretty quickly. At Birmingham, we get ahead in the first half when Dean Roberts connects on a penalty kick (a specialty of his). Brian Hardy has a few excellent saves in goal, and we hold on to our edge – topping things off with a nice breakaway goal in the closing minutes. Lincoln 2, Birmingham 0. Well, at this point, it looks like we ought to be capable enough in First Division to set aside fears of relegation. We don’t yet know where we truly fit here, but I don’t see things going so badly that we end up at the foot of the table. Home to Queens Park Rangers, we are unable to get any real inside penetration at all in the match, and our offense consists of a series of long shots from our midfielders – most sailing harmlessly over the target. Lucena nails the post on one – it’s the closest either side gets to the scoreboard in this hard-fought draw. Lincoln 0, Q.P.R. 0. EPL club Charlton play host to us in the League Cup next, and we slip behind early on a nicely set-up goal. Kamara’s attempt to pull even sails a bit high, but at 20 minutes Dean Roberts makes a great play to get open, setting up Kamara for the goal. Shortly after, one of Lucena’s long range strikes ekes past the keeper and we take the lead. Brian Watkins, subbed in for injured Mario Dadic, makes an incredible pass forward to set up Dean Roberts for a strike. Lincoln 4, Charlton 2 – Lincoln advances. A very impressive display for our side – overcoming an early deficit and turning on the style! At Cardiff, we see a welcome sight – Mario Dadic dropping in a pass forward to Paul Kamara, who jukes the keeper and buries it. This used to be probably our stable offensive move – now it’s buried in the repertoire a bit, as defenders seem to be more capable of handling their give-and-go routine. It’s a seesaw match – we take the 3-2 lead at 80 minutes, only to give away the equalizer in injury time, and then are lucky to hold on for the draw at that point. Lincoln 3, Cardiff 3. Now Mario Dadic, who had fallen in each of our last two matches, is diagnosed with a cartilage problem in his knee – and will miss some time. I expect that we will rotate in Brian Watkins and others into that starting spot. I might even try Miguel Angel Lucena out there. |
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04-21-2004, 02:52 PM
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#103 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Troy, NY
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The thing that jumps out at me: You didn't mention Ben Cross's name ONCE in August or September.
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Quis custodiets ipsos custodes? |
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04-21-2004, 03:57 PM
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#104 | ||
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Quote:
Very fair point. A sneak peek at text from the not-yet-finished month of October narrative: Quote:
Up to this season, I got very accustomed to seeing Mario Dadic advance the ball forward on the left side, and either pass back to a midfielder for an outside shot or else punch it up to Kamara for an inside attack. And I got used to seeing Ben Cross take the ball from the right wing, make a move to lose his defender, and penetrate toward the goal himself - looking to either shoot or pass off. This season, I'm seeing rather little of either one. I still don't know why - but the structure of our most conspicuous attack is definitely changing. |
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04-21-2004, 05:07 PM
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#105 |
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Pro Rookie
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Moorhead
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In my career as Lincoln, I have had the stadium expanded the last two seasons, both in the EPL for what it is worth.
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I had something. |
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04-22-2004, 12:54 PM
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#106 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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October 2006
The Lincoln board are delighted with your performance as manager. We bring in a new player – fulfilling a Bosman deal settled last season. Adam Howarth is a defensive midfielder, who has a solid skill set and a deadly cannon for a long shot. It’s the later skill that has me most giddy – in our attack, we tend to drop our DM back a bit, and he gets a fair number of shots. Howarth, if he takes to that role, could end up adding a new dimension for us. Admittedly, our midfield is getting a bit crowded. I’m using Lucena pretty regularly, along with Dadic and Cross on the wings. That basically leaves one spot for former regulars Lee Connolly and Colin Bradshaw, along with Brian Watkins, Richard Vaughan, and Stuart Thompson. I expect that we will revert to more of a true rotation as we move ahead – keeping everyone fresh and getting some playing time spread around. We now have a big matchup at Middlebrough – who are in 9th pace, just a few spots behind us. If we can get a road win here, it will go a long way to saying that maybe we are really even contenders for the First Division, as unlikely as it seems. At 12 minutes, Middlesbrough execute nicely to get ahead, and they extend in the second half to a two goal edge. Down 2-0, Paul Kamara sends two good shots into the side netting for near misses, and we cannot capitalize on the few chances that we could muster. Middlesbrough 2, Lincoln 0. We have shuffled our lineup for our next match, at home to first place Crewe. We are in a morale slump after the loss to Middlesbrough, and I’m trying to shake things up. At 4 minutes, we assemble a glorious attack – four direct passes, a big cross over to Dean Roberts, and a missile off his foot that find home. We end up in another seesaw match – we fall behind in the closing minutes, but gain the big equalizer in injury time. It’s the reverse of our recent matchup with Cardiff, but we are lucky to get the draw here. Lincoln 3, Crewe 3. The result is a mixed blessing for us – we drop to 13th in the league table, as the middle ground is very competitive. However, getting a draw against the league’s top team is a pretty good accomplishment, I think. I’m fairly pleased all told. It’s high time we got a sense of how everyone is doing, up here in First Division. Here’s an updated player performance table: Code:
Generally, our players are up to par. I’m seeing that our abilty to advance the ball in off the wing has been severely compromised this year – and thus the dropoff in numbers from Dadic and Cross. At least I think the cause-and-effect works in that direction. Dean Roberts has certainly gotten off on the right foot, and has really earned a regular spot for us on the attack. We need to get Jim Magill back into good spirits – our goalkeeping has not been very sharp this season, and we simply much do better. Magill in great form and spirits makes a pretty big difference, I think. Regrettably, this intent is followed with news that he has suffered a training injury and will be unavailable for a few weeks. Pressure will be on the youngsters. I confirm that three of our last four home matches drew over 10,000 patrons – and I put in a request for a stadium expansion. The Lincoln City board concur that Sincil Bank needs to be improved if the club is to fulfill its current potential. They assure you there are plans afoot to expand the stadium. I expect this will take place in the offseason, this summer. Good news. We have a match at Bristol City – another mid-level club. We have Mario Dadic back in – and will hope to get things going on our attack again. Young Jamie Green is making his first start – and we will hope to get a spark from him as well. However, two goals conceded in 20 minutes doesn’t help the lad’s ego – and we are in trouble early. They just bury us totally – it’s a hugely demoralizing loss, one that might wreak havoc with our team’s ever-fragile morale. Bristol City 5, Lincoln 0. Awful. And so this could be the beginning of a dreadful slide. Our morale is bottomed out – plenty of players are now listed at “very poor” and it will take some doing to try to field a side who are in anything but total despondence. We are put to the test quickly, as we play at home to Chesterfield. I have a ragtag group out there – the best we can patch together for right now, it seems. At the 25 minute mark, we get a counter-strike goal from Kamara – and take the lead. Chris Rowe heads in a Ben Cross corner kick for another goal in the second half – and we actually look like we’re playing with some poise. Lincoln 2, Chesterfield 0. The way we thrive on good chemistry and morale – I can’t overstate the importance of getting a good, solid win here. We travel to Leeds, where we face a tough club who remain in the top echelon of the league thus far. It’s early, only 5 minutes in, when young keeper Jamie Green makes a blunder – coming our of goal to make a pass forward, then getting caught off the intercepted pass for an easy long goal into the untended net. This doesn’t look good for us – when they get to 2-0, it looks like it’s over in the first half. After we get a corner kick in to halve the difference, we might have ashot, but are still being outplayed. We get even in the second half, when Mario Dadic shows a little of his old flair, and penetrates for a nice feed to Kamara for an old-time Lincoln goal. There is pressure both ways down the stretch, but it’s Leeds who snare the score at 90 minutes – a huge goal to wrap up a tight contest. Leeds 3, Lincon 2. We have brought aboard a new coach to the staff – Daniel Black is going to be our goalkeeper specialist, in charge of developing Jamie Green and perhaps Brian Hardy, who seems to be working his way back into our plans. Black essentially replaces David Crowley, who departed after his player/coach contract expired. |
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04-23-2004, 01:56 PM
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#107 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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November 2006
Lincoln City’s Paul Kamara has win the English First Division Player of the Month award. The board remain delighted with me – but I’m a little worried that we are about to go through a tough stretch. Here’s the league table – and I don’t like what I see right now: Code:
So, where does this bring us? 14th place doesn’t seem so bad… but “six points out of 2nd place” is a lot better. We’ll probably find out soon whether this glass is half empty or half full. We play in the League Cup third round, facing second division Walsall at their place. I have most of our first team in – hoping to get a win and a morale boost, which I think we could benefit from. Instead, we see keeper Jim Magill yield two pretty easy goals, and we slide behind by two in the first half. After we get a “consolation goal” at 86 nminutes, we get one final chance as the clock ticks away – and we get a miracle shot off a beautiful pass from Dadic – Ben Cross strikes home for the dramatic equalizer! In extra time, we aren’t able to resolve the deadlock – both sides seem very tired. It will go to penalties to be resolved. Magill comes up with a save on their first shot – a good redemption of his earlier mistakes. But Dean Roberts’ rifle shot is saved, also – and we are even. Magill saves again – unreal! After Dadic find the net, though, Richard Vaughan shoots too high – and we are even after three shots. Magill gets spared as one goes wide, but Ben Cross hits the post and it’s only 1-1 after four shots. Simon Platt keeps us alive, and we got into a sixth round of PKs. Magill lets this one by, and when Paul Kamara’s shot sails high, it’s over – our furious rally is for naught. Walsall 2, Lincoln 2 – Lincoln eliminated. We’ve got a match now at home to Gillingham – this is the sort of match that we need to be winning in league play. At 11 minutes, we take a good step, as Dadic sends in a corner kick and Kamara sends it home. Through the first half, Mario Dadic looks like his old self again – advancing nicely, and passing well. We get another goal from Kamara, this time set up by Adam Howarth from over the middle – probably the bet play Howarth has made for us so far. Lincoln 2, Gillingham 0. We seemed very much in control through this one – much better play here. This match has boosted our morale greatly, and I seek to ride the wave as we head up against West Ham. A win here would be great – on the road against a solid club ahead of us in the standings. We play well through the first half, but their tough presence inside keeps us off the scoresheet. The Hammers get ahead in the early second half, though, and drop back to protect the edge. At 69 minutes, though, we get a beautiful pass forward from Lee Marsh, up to Kamara who finds a corner. They come right back to go back ahead, and we are outplayed down the final minutes. West Ham 2, Lincoln 1. Despite the recently strong play of Mario Dadic, I am thinking about the left-side midfield position a bit. Though I am getting deep with central midfielders, I have yet to be thrilled with the results from using them on the left wing. To that end, I am pursuing a pretty solid Spanish player, left-winger Fernando Camacho. I’ve agreed to a £30,000 transfer fee – if we can work out a contract, I’d like to bring him aboard and see if he’s a good fit for us. He has been effective playing in Spain, and I think he could be good here, too. At 25, he’d be a younger option that Dadic – whose contract expires after this year anyway. We are home to Nottingham Forest, and would like to get back onto the good side of things. Our morale has been up and down with our wins – and securing a home victory would certainly help get us back to better footing there. Mario Dadic puts us ahead on a free kick into the right edge, a lovely strike. Dean Roberts connects on a penalty shot, after Ben Cross got mugged penetrating toward the goal. We yield one goal that makes things interesting, but manage to hold on for the vital win. Lincoln 2, Nottm Forest 1. As has been the case for the entirety of this campaign, we simply are not getting particularly standout production from our attacking central midfield spot. I’ve brought in several different players with that role in mind – and most have been either underwhelming, or just better suited to a different role. I don’t have any answers right now, but Colin Bradshaw is seemingly still our best option, and we know what we get with him: vanilla. A player who has been much better this season has been Mario Dadic, whose last several matches have seen him regain his spot as a critical part of our attack. I go to the media in praise of him, and the club supporters chime in their joy as well. He may not have many years left, but Mario Dadic may be remembered as the player who made the biggest difference in us becoming a serious team on the rise. After Fernando Camacho rejects my initial contract offer, I am now quite pessimistic about the likelihood of him coming aboard. He wants a very prominent role and top dollar – I don’t think I can really offer either one. Interestingly enough, my scout chimes in – he doesn’t think we ought to pursue Camacho anyway. I guess that’s that. We are at Blackpool, facing the club just ahead of us in 9th place. James Carter makes an attacking run, but gets caught – and their counter attack to the undefended left side, scoring the first goal. A long shot at 17 minutes gives them a huge early edge – we have been ambushed in the early going. A PK from Dean Roberts gives us some hope, though, and Kamara tips in a shot after a scrum right in front of the Blackpool goal – and we are ell even, still in the first 30 minutes. At 44 minutes, Colin Bradshaw makes a through ball to Kamara (anything but vanilla there) setting up the lead at the half. When Magill gives up two more goals in the second half, I yank him for Jamie Green – probably too late. Blackpool 4, Lincoln 3. Another match on us right away – home to Wimbledon. I’m hoping our on-again, off-again results are back in good shape, as we play before the Sincil Bank faithful. I’ve got a young defender up from our reserve squad – playing in the center and hopefully giving us a spark. Our defenders let us down badly against Blackpool. However, martin O’Brien is the culprit early as his man slips past to notch the first goal. But O’Brien gets kudos later, as his pass sets up a great long shot from Lucena that strikes for the evening goal. Kamara gets us ahead with a banana shot later on – great effort. Lincoln 4, Wimbledon 1. Good effort to bounce back, as we get our attack back in gear in the second half – Kamara’s would-be hat trick goes south on an offside call. |
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04-23-2004, 01:57 PM
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#108 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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December 2006
Lincoln City’s Paul Kamara has win the English First Division Player of the Month award. The 22 year old has been in a rich vein of form, scoring an incredible seven goals in five games. Unbelievable rebound for Kamara, after a somewhat shaky start to the season. He has elevated his average match rating right back to his usual level – he’s back to 7.76 on the year (despite opening with a big, fat 4). I go to the media to back up this award – praising his recent efforts. The fans will no doubt follow. On the road now, we face Grimsby Town. We’ve had trouble getting a good effort on the road this season, and this is no exception, as we fall behind early. At 78 minutes, Mario Dadic gets us all square with a free kick into the right side – his patented curve kick. But at 83, they pull back ahead on a nice shot getting past Jamie Green. Grimsby 2, Lincoln 1. We host Norwich, and back at home I’m seeking a good showing. We don’t really look too sharp – no score until 67 minutes, when Ben Cross gets us ahead with a free kick. As it turns out, that’s all we need – our defense rose to the occasion this time, bottling up Norwich all afternoon and holding them to only two shots all day. Lincoln 1, Norwich 0. At this point, I feel like I know “who we are.” We’re not quite halfway into the league schedule, but it’s fairly clear that Lincoln is a decent club, fairly competitive in the First Division, but not a real threat to contend for a promotion spot. We are capable of getting wins, especially at home, when we play well – and are also capable of playing poorly against properly situated foes. My expectation is that we will stay well clear of any relegation fears, but will probably bounce around mid-table all season and presumably end up in the middle dozen somewhere. For a club that’s only two years removed from the Third Division, that’s wonderful, of course. The loyal followers are simply going to have to make peace with more losses than they are used to, that’s all. We’re in 8th place, and now head on the road to face Wolverhampton. Wolves are in 17th position – not faring that well this season, but are a fairly established club at this level. They have the pressure on early, but we get through several spells without conceding a goal. They finally tally one just before halftime to get the lead. After being roundly outplayed, we get a break at 84 minutes – Ben Cross makes his usual play toward the goal, sends in a shot which causes a rebound for Dean Roberts to tap in. We draw level at 1-1. However, the next minute, we fall behind again, and lose by the one goal margin – tough break. Wolves 2, Lincoln 1. I made an approach to Bohemians about their promising young striker Michael Kelly. The press said I was “living in a dream world” for doing so, but I ended up making an offer anyway. Bohemians have accepted the offer now – I’ve put £150,000 on the table, following my scout’s revelation that this kid is truly something special. I’m talking contract with him – if we can lure him in, it might be a major coup for us. It would be very nice to bring in a promising young attacker – right now our regular complements to Paul Kamara are all veterans. Michael Kelly has tremendous skills – he could be an impact addition to the side. Home to Hull, we play through a scoreless first half, and things are pretty uneventful well into the second half. Ben Cross goes down with an injury – that’s not good news. We end up with nothing on the board, in a hapless home draw. Lincoln 0, Hull 0. A few days later, we are on the road to Sheffield Wednesday, where we will home to score a rare road win against the fairly weak foe here. Ben cross makes a nice penetration into the right fore, sends it in and Kamara gets a rebound shot into the net. Kamara strikes again on a breakaway, and we gain a 2-0 first half advantage. At 65 minutes, they get a goal to get back within one, and we are nervous. At 91 minutes, our anxiety is justified, as they get in a shot off a deflection for the equalizer. Lincoln 2, Sheff Wed 2. Tough to fritter away that opportunity there. Paul Kamara went down with an injury in the match, and we hold our breath awaiting word on his status. The physio reports back – he’ll be okay, as his knee is just twisted, and he should be fine in a few days. Whew. After two rounds of contract negotiations with young striker Michael Kelly, it’s clear that we can’t land him. I am offering what is, for us, a staggering contract -- £2,500/wk and £100,000 up front – but it’s not even registering with him. We just aren’t a big money club, and don’t have the resources to make a big play like this. I was probably in that dream world all along – the pundits were right. We are home against Derby, and this is a chance to make a dent. They are in fifth position – several spots ahead of us. But getting a win here would help us get back within striking range of the meaningful spots. I dump the counter attack, and drop to a much more vanilla tactic for now – just to shake things up a bit. Our attack is very lacking here, but Jamie Green puts forth an outstanding effort to keep us level in this one – and gets MOM honors deservedly. Lincoln 0, Derby 0. It’s the end of December, the pivotal contract time for this year. I have a list of players whose contracts are due to end after this year – and I put in a few extension offers. James Carter and Colin Bradshaw are both pretty realistic – and I offer to each of them a £900/wk offer, which is very affordable. Lee Connolly wants a bit more, but I make the same offer to him, only with a little more cash up front. Simon Platt, our versatile defender, is another tough case – I make an offer of £1,000/wk for him, but it might not be enough. And then there is Mario Dadic. What to do here? He is 33 years old right now, and we’re looking at the downside of his career in the years ahead. But he is so revered and respected, it would be very tough to just let him walk away. However – he wants a contract for £3,300/wk – more than twice what anyone else makes for us. My thinking is that we will try to wait him out, and see if that gets more reasonable. At his age, I don’t think he’ll be a terribly hot prospect on the open market. On New Year’s Eve, we are up against Stoke. Paul Kamara works some magic and sneaks in a long shot that seemed to have no chance to get by. They draw even after 34 minutes, then strike again in two more minutes -- and it looks like this match might open up into a track meet. Jaime Green makes a terrible gaffe, roaming forward with the ball, and predictably enough an errant pass yields an easy long shot. We cant’ get into a “track meet” scoring bonanza, though, and end up one short. Stoke 3, Lincoln 2. |
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04-27-2004, 03:17 PM
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#109 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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January 2007
It’s a fair time for an update of our overall status – we’ll start with the player stats: Code:
And here is the league table as we start 2007: Code:
We’re currently in a somber 16th position, but see that the entire middle of the table is so bunched together, that it’s practically a toss up everywhere between 6th and 20th. Again, I don’t think we’ll get into the top seven this season, but it’s possible that we get close. Or, it’s possible that we end up in about 18th or 20th position. It’s time for us to be considering the roster for next season. We have made extension offers to most of our players whose contracts are up – now we are looking to make Bosman transfers in, in an effort to improve. Id like to bring in a solid goalkeeper, as I’m not totally sold on any of our current crop – especially Jim Magill, who is our default starter. I think a central defender and perhaps a left side midfielder would be useful additions as well. I’m open to adding impact players anywhere, of course. We visit Tranmere, and with out club’s low morale, I’m not expecting a particularly good effort. Paul Kamara gets an open shot early, but the keeper makes the save – Kamara should have passed back to Roberts for an easier chance. Roberts gets his goal at 36 minutes – and we are looking pretty sharp through the first half. We manage to make that goal hold up – and secure a nice road win here, just as I came in full of sighing. Lincoln 1, Tranmere 0. A few days into the new year, we have some contract announcements. Colin Bradshaw (“mister vanilla”) has inked a new three year deal, as has James Carter (who is surprisingly vanilla as well, despite his promising offensive skills – he rarely gets into the scoring activity). Also, Lee Connolly, our former regular defensive midfielder, will stick around with us, despite hid drop in playing time this season. I also get word that Lebanese defender Hussein Hallak has accepted our offer, and will come aboard on a Bosman deal for next season. He will need a work permit – so this one remains up in the air for now. Another defender, potentially an impact signing, is 15 year old David Taylor from Crystal Palace. CP has agreed to our transfer fee of £75,000 – and we will try to sign him for an immediate transfer in. It doesn’t look like he is very excited by our approach, though – stay tuned. We agree to terms with defender David Kay on a new deal. He has disappointed this year, but the deal is for pretty modest money – he’ll stay as a reserve. Ideally, I’d like to bring aboard an impact starter for our central defense, but so far no luck there (stay tuned on young David Taylor). Gary Collins, an 18 y/o keeper for Herefrod is my latest quarry, and it looks like we’ll get him to come aboard. One more young keeper, with a new keepers coach – this ought to be a good mix. At least we’ll have options – maybe just to ride the guy with the highest morale. I am also after young left-side defender Paul Donaghy, and am talking contract with him after Brentford accepted my approach for £40,000. I’m thinking we need a good alternatuive to Lee Marsh – and Donaghy will be cheaper, even. If he fits into our system great. And, after another day or two, another feeler I sent out comes back positive – my £60K offer for 20 year old keeper Michalis Charalambous has been accepted, and I am offering a deal to the promising youngster. I’d be happy to have several young keepers on hand, and the ability to play several and see who can perform best with our club. That seems to be the direction we are heading. Another young defender, Brazilian Rogerio de Barros, has accepted our contract offer. He comes right aboard (I don’t know why this one wasn’t held up for a work permit) and I’m delighted to add a fresh new face to our defensive ranks. De Barros can play either the left or right side of the defense, and has pretty good all-around skills. I’m not yet sure whether he is a future starter, but I do expect to rotate him in soon and see what we have in him. He’ll be working on his English in the meantime. Defender Simon Platt, perhaps seeing all our activity with new defender prospects, has agreed terms with us. He remains a main element of our future planning – he’s been effective every season, and can play any of the defender spots, making him extra valuable. We’re glad to give him a considerable wage increase to £1,200/wk, and he is happy now. And some of the remaining pieces settle into place. Goalkeeper Gary Collins accepts our contract offer, and joins right away. Young defender David Taylor, a potentially very exciting addition, will join us in June. Potentially two very exciting moves for our club. We are in the third round of the FA Cup, facing Nottingham Forest. I’ve got young Gary Collins dropped right in as our keeper – we’ll give him a trial by fire of sorts. With a 2-0 lead in the early second half, I bring in de Barros for his first Lincoln action as well – he need to play his way into match condition. We go on to a total romp, Dean Roberts tops off his hat trick, and we get a sterling performance from our new goalkeeper along the way. Lincoln 5, Nottm Forest 0 – Lincoln advances. The win is worth £50,000 – that’s nice, too. The goalkeeping quest has taken another turn – young Cypriot keeper Michalis Charalambous has also agreed terms with us. It’s a £60,000 transfer – and one more entry into our sweepstakes to locate a solid keeper for our future. And finally, left side defender Paul Donaghy has joined up as well. His is a £40,000 transfer – another that I hope can result in our locating a future contributor. At Preston, we have Paul Donaghy slotted as our left side defender – our scouts like him a good deal, and I’m interested to see him fit into our setup. Late in the first pass, Donaghy makes a long pass up to Kamara, who passes over to Roberts for the score. But Preston tallies two second half goals to get ahead of us, and they make that edge hold up. Preston 2, Lincoln 1. In only one match, I see in Donaghy a tendency to pass far forward – which might suit our counter-attacking style pretty well. We host Birmingham, with our team still in pretty good spirits, and with Gary Collins still starting in goal. Mario Dadic weaves his way in for a rare straight-on goal for him, and we take the first half lead. We get another goal later, and put away a solid win. Lincoln 2, Birmingham 0. Paul Kamara limped through about 25 minutes before coming off injured (and with a match rating of 4) – and we again are holding our breath. It seems he is okay – but I’ll give him a rest for a bit anyway. Kamara’s contract status remains a little unsettled – he wants a new deal, but he doesn’t think we have the means to get it done. I decide to put in a new offer to him – to try to calm this if I can. But even a £3,000/wk offer with a £150,000 bonus – the highest figures we can offer – is not enough to get him to agree terms. We might be looking at a big transfer if he isn’t going to be comfortable with us. His current contract runs through next season. 30 year old French striker Christian Blanc has agreed to come aboard for next year on a Bosman deal. Another solid veteran striker – should be a contributor, but I don’t know whether he’ll start or just be in a rotation. He’s been successful with French club Beauvais – we’ll give him a shot here in jolly old England. Defender Hussein Hallak’s transfer has been delayed as he hasn’t gotten a work permit. I have appealed, but don’t hold out a lot of hope. Fortunately, we have brought in some reinforcements for our defense – though I still am seeking an impact player for the central defense (as we have picked up two defensive wingers). We are playing host to Coventry here, with the club in particularly good morale following a solid road win. We are getting plenty of pressure early, but stretch through the first half without tallying a goal. Finally, we get one in – Dean Roberts scores off the corner kick from defender Simon Platt. They draw even right thereafter, though as the headers just clears the reach of keeper Gary Collins. Deep into injury time, we each have chances – but come up empty and settle for the draw. Lincoln 1, Coventry 1. That’s a bad result against a low-level side, we need to secure that win. At Q.P.R., we face a solid club – and have Jim Magill back in at keeper. We get our attack working fairly well, and get out ahead by a couple of goals shortly after the half. I bring in Charalambous at keeper, to get him into the flow with the club, and he promptly concedes two goals – not a great start for him. But, we manage to get more on the board, and hold on for the much-needed win, anyway. Lincoln 5, Q.P.R. 3. Good win for us. Mario Dadic has signed a new contract with Lincoln. The deal will keep him with the club until June 2009. I didn’t want to let him get away – and my hope is that he remains at least fairly productive through this contract. Either way – Hull had expressed some interest, and I didn’t want him to depart without us getting a chance. At this point in the season, it’s becoming clear that our most effective striker is Dean Roberts, and (gasp) not Paul Kamara. Kamara is still very effective, but it’s been Roberts who has taken the real lead role in the offense, and has performed at the very highest level. The two together have been very good, of course – and that’s the recipe we want to move forward with up front. We’re in the 4th round of the FA Cup, at Norwich. Since our season isn’t really going anywhere – this is our best chance to come out of the season with a measure of success – so we’re in with the best lineup we have to offer. Ben Cross makes it happen with the first goal at 42 minutes – a great penetration for a shot into the far edge of the net. At 73, they pull even with a nice pass-and-shoot setup to get past Magill. That’s how it ends – we’ll have to go again in a replay match, at Sincil Bank. Lincoln 1, Norwich 1. A striker I had been pursuing for some time, Irish lad Michael Kelly, has finally been sold. He comes to the First Division, but selects to play for Sheffield Wednesday, who will be paying him in excess of £8,000/wk – a whole lot more than we can even fathom. No surprise then. I predict big things. Defender Hussein Hallak will not be coming to Lincoln after all – his work permit did not come through. No surprise. Now we head to face Crewe Alexandra, who sit atop the league table. They get ahead at 15 minutes off a corner kick, and we are in trouble – as I might have predicted. Dean Roberts gets us even with a nifty move in traffic – single-handedly creating hic chance. At 69 minutes, Mario Dadic gets us ahead on a long free kick – curved right into the corner of the net, a beautiful strike. We come away with an unlikely win on the road against the league’s top club – I’m stunned. Lincoln 2, Crewe 1. Last edited by QuikSand : 04-27-2004 at 03:18 PM. |
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04-28-2004, 02:34 AM
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#110 |
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Pro Rookie
Join Date: Oct 2000
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Ugh. Too bad we missed out on Kelly. Awesome news on the transfer and Bosman front, though. We got Taylor AND a bunch of keepers! Huzzah! Good to see Dadic re-upped, too. It'd be nice to see him retire an Imp.
No move for (yet another) replacement for Mr. Vanilla? |
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04-28-2004, 08:58 AM
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#111 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Quote:
Nope. But Mr. Vanilla (Colin Bradshaw) has steadily regained his playing time... without attracting any atention in the game write-ups of course. He doesn't get any goals or assists, but he very rarely screws things up and pretty much posts a match rating of 7 every match... I guess I can live with that. Lucena has been a real disappointment so far - that's the guy I thought would be electric in that role, and he just doesn't have it, it seems. Maybe given a little mroe time to settle in... but so far, he's been the wet blanket. |
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04-29-2004, 10:52 PM
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#112 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Detroit, MI, U.S.A
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Hey, Quik ... gotta quick question for you (no pun intended)
Before you start a match, how do you go about selecting your squad, do you "Ask Assisstant to pick," then go through and edit it as you see fit or do you start blank and do it all yourself? I ask because I find myself a little lost when it comes to picking the starting XI, and I figure me & you are pretty level in our knowledge of futbol (very basic) so I was hoping for a little advice, thanks. Great read by the way, keep it up!
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It's true, it's true. |
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04-29-2004, 11:26 PM
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#113 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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With this club, I have been using a pretty regular group of players. Initially, I had to do a lot of experimenting, but once I got guys with whom I could be comfy in most positions, I reverted to using them unless their morale dropped off the planet. Eventually, you'll get there -- you'll just revert to using a certain player as your starter in that slot unless there's a reason not to do so.
I'm using morale as a MAJOR factor in this career - to prety good effect, thus far. |
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04-30-2004, 01:26 PM
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#114 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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February 2007
We start off the month at Chesterfield, who are right behind us on the league table. They get ahead after 9 minutes – not such a good start for our lads. Just before halftime, though, Dean Roberts is stopped on a PK, but he follows through with the rebound goal to get us even. In the second half, Magill gives up two goals quickly – one on a big mistake by him, the other on a shot he left too open. Chesterfield 3, Lincoln 2. I’m very upset with Jim Magill – who is going to find the bench for a while. We have picked up a Bosman transfer in, for next season. 32 year old central defender Nick Bullock has been very effective playing for Ipswich in the Second Division, and we pull him up to our level for next season. Good all-around skills, and a possible team leader – I thin he can be an excellent veteran addition for us. I had been looking to add one more central defender – he’ll fill the bill nicely (despite being on the wrong side of thirty). As I had been looking for a central defender, I also put in a bid on a young French player, who now comes aboard as well on a £6,000 transfer. Didier Diagouraga is an intriguing youngster, 23 years old and pretty hard working. I might find some chances for him down the stretch this season, as we are in the laboratory focusing on next year for the most part. For now, he heads to the reserve squad to get into shape. We are on the pitch again, hosting Norwich in our FA Cup replay match. Prety big stakes – we have a first team squad on the field. At 41 minutes, Dadic makes a penetration in from the left wing, and his crossing pass goes to Mr. Vanilla himself, Colin Bradshaw, who sends it in. Paul Russell subs in during the early second half, and promptly notches another goal – and we get a more secure edge. A late goal from Kamara seals the deal – a great effort for our side. Lincoln 3, Norwich 0 – Lincoln advances. We get £75,000 for the win, and will play host to Bristol City in the fifth round. And we head right back onto the pitch, to take on Bristol City – a preview of our forthcoming Cup match, I suppose. Ben Cross is resting, and Paul Kamara gets hurt right away – so our attack will be compromised. Paul Russell, again on as a sub, is in for the first goal to give us the lead fairly early. They draw level at 56 minutes, and that’s all we see here. Lincoln 1, Bristol City 1. We play again at home for Middlesbrough, who remain in contention for the league title. They score on us almost immediately, with a looping shot right over the head of Charalambous in goal – but fortunately for us, it is waived off. At 75 minutes, though, they make it count. That’s the edge they needed, and they get away with a solid win at our place – dashing any realistic hopes we might have been clinging to about making a late season run into contention. Middlesbrough 1, Lincoln 0. We are in the FA Cup fifth round match, hosting Bristol City. Collins in net makes an error dribbling, and gets punished for a quick goal. That really hurt. We’re outplaying them through the first half and into the second, but remain behind by that goal. We end up zeroed out, and only the fluky play early settles the match – terrible misfortune. Bristol City 1, Lincoln 0 – Lincoln eliminated. Back home to Leeds, we get ahead a great effort from Paul Kamara – a hard shot right through the keeper. However, he was ruled offside, and it’s lost. On the opening possession of the second half, Kamara simply dribbles forward, right through the heart of their defense, and strikes from 15 yards to get us even – another sensational individual effort. However, we just don’t seem to have our act together today – we yield another goal to Leeds, and we end up on the wrong side. Leeds 2, Lincoln 1. At this point, we are entrenched right back in the mid-table zone: Code:
Just a few weeks ago, we had crept up to about 9th on the table, and it looked like we might have a glimmer of hope. But I feel like we’ve been put back into our place now, and we’ll have to see where we go from here – probably no place. We’re at Gillingham, and are without suspended Mario Dadic, whose yellow cards have caught up to him. We concede two quick goals, and have a hole to dig out of early. They go on to crush us – a pretty tough loss. Gillingham 4, Lincoln 1. Reading have made an offer for our young striker John Jackson – and I agree to their £14,000 price tag. I’m convinced that he doesn’t fit into our plans – so we’re glad to get something for him. Paul Russell is squawking a bit about not playing with the first team. I promise he will get chances – but I don’t like mouthy players. We are home to Cardiff, seeking a win to get us out of this current rut. Paul Russell is in as a starter, and he strikes on a penalty kick after Ben Cross gets tripped up slashing toward the net. We go on to a very solid, impressive win – reflecting the up and down nature of our whole season. Lincoln 3, Cardiff 0. |
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05-01-2004, 07:17 AM
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#115 |
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Pro Rookie
Join Date: Oct 2000
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Middle of the table is a pretty good debut into division one, though. Definitely acceptable.
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05-03-2004, 03:20 PM
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#116 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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March 2007
We have inched up to 11th place on the league table, and now we host West Ham – without winger Ben Cross, who is down with a minor injury. We gain the edge when Mario Dadic’s corner kick finds Michael Maher for the header goal. Maher has long been our best scorer from among our defensive ranks – a nice strike here. Kamara sends forward a ball for Paul Russell, who nails that one in for our second goal. At 77 minutes, the Hammers get on the board, and pull within one goal. Adam Howarth gets loose and scores to seal it, though – it’s his first goal for us. I was envisioning him notching all sorts of shots from the outside for us, but here he is tapping home a goal on a breakaway – exactly what he doesn’t have the skills to do. In the closing minutes, Howarth adds another goal, and we wrap up a solid win at home. Lincoln 4, West Ham 1. Do I even want to make mention of the league table at this point? Oh, why not. Code:
We’re somewhere in the midst of the “contenders” list at this point. Five points out of seventh doesn’t seem all that bad – but we have yet to show the consistency necessary to advance on anyone at that rate. We have eight league matches remaining, and probably would need 16 or 18 points out of those matches to get there. Seems unlikely. Incidentally, we have devolved into a pretty reliable club at home, with a season record of 9 wins, 8 draws, and only 2 losses at Sincil Bank. But we only have 5 wins on the road, to 13 losses. This isn’t a complete outlier (much of the division looks similar) but it does seem pretty stark. Getting wins on the road is tough business at this level. We are at Nottingham Forest, seeking an elusive road victory. At 24 minutes, Miguel Angel Lucena scores off Ben Cross’s corner kick – nice goal. Kamara sends two shots just over the bar, and we end up ahead by only one goal at the half. At 57, they draw even with a nicely placed shot, and they have come alive. Quickly, they strike again for the lead at 63 minutes. Tough loss, to let that lead get away. Nottm Forest 2, Lincoln 1. I bring aboard another midfielder, 22 year old Czech Martin Vesley. It’s a cheap contract, he can play the right or left side, and if things work out he may become a backup to Ben Cross and Mario Dadic. Probably not a major impact signing, but a guy worth adding on to the squad. The announcement indicates him as an “enthusiastic midfielder” – which sounds pretty good to me. Now, we are back at Sincil Bank, and taking on Blackpool, who get a leg up early with a 5th minute score. Without Dadic and Kamara, I don’t expect much firepower – but we get a nice goal from Paul Russell to get right back even. Lincoln 1, Blackpool 1. A draw at home is a death knell for our chances to advance – I’m now thinking that we will give some of our younger players chances to play, and try to build up a sense of who can do what for us, looking toward next season. I’ve been negotiating for two weeks with Chester over their 16 year old midfielder Roberto Lazzarni. I’m intrigued by his efforts thus far in the second division, and I think he might be a good fit for our style of play. We end up deadlocked about £20,000 apart in his buying price – and I won’t be outmuscled here. I back out of the talks. On the road at Norwich, we have a very different lineup in. I’m interested to see what we can get from this young crowd. We hold off their pressure and get to halftime scoreless, but without any real threat to them at all. They do get ahead early in the second half, and we try to no avail to get even. My forward tandem of Martin and Lewis (really!) set up a great shot at 59 minutes, but their keeper defends well, so no score. We actually get some nice efforts late, but still come up without a goal. Norwich 1, Lincoln 0. We finally agree terms over young midfielder Roberto Lazzarrini, and I have a contract offer in to him. It won’t go through until next season anyway – but I’d like to bring aboard one more promising youngster while I have some space in my transfer budget. He agrees, and will join us in August. We get the deal done just under the wire for the transfer deadline. Paul Kamara chooses now to indicate that he believes he can get a better contract elsewhere. I open talks with him, and for the first time see a number indicating his demands. He wants £8,700/wk – more than twice what my board will authorize. I put up the fattest deal we can possibly offer - £3,700/wk plus a £190,000 signing bonus. That’s really the best we can do – I sit back and hope he accepts. Kamara has understandably become the one “favoured player” on my own personnel sheet – he remains the heart and soul of this team, despite having something of an off year this season. *crossing fingers* |
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05-04-2004, 01:41 AM
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#117 |
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Pro Rookie
Join Date: Oct 2000
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Any chance you might be able to ask the board for more salary budget?
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05-04-2004, 07:45 AM
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#118 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Quote:
I'm not sure what I've got to lose -- I have a bad feeling about Kamara right now. The thing is, my team is currently below the board's total wage budget - so that's not the problem. The problem is the overall cap they have placed on wht I can offer a single player, which I guess is some calculated figure based on the wage budget and other things. So, in their view -- I can "afford" Kamara and a salary of something like 7,000/week -- but they just won't let me offer that much to any one player. (I can, though, offer three different guys 3,000/week each) So, I fear I'm stuck. Last edited by QuikSand : 05-04-2004 at 07:46 AM. |
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05-04-2004, 02:00 PM
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#119 | |
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Pro Rookie
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Illinois
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Quote:
This has become perhaps my greatest frustration with the current iteration of CM. In my current career my EPL squad has become filthy rich, with over 130 million pounds in the bank and a wage budge of nearly 2 million per week, of which I'm currently using just 850k. Despite our excellent financial shape and profitability the board is limiting my maximum wage expenditure for "Key Players" to 18k per week, which just cost me two of my best players (lost to Bosman signings). What was even more frustrating is that these were players I'd really become attached to - they'd spent their entire careers on my team and I watched them develop into superstars. In addition, they had been making far more per week (~40k) on their last contract with me, so I'm even more astonished and agitated that the board so severely restricted what I could pay them. Irksome. Sorry to interrupt with my little diatribe. |
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05-04-2004, 02:12 PM
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#120 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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April 2007
Paul Kamara has rejected Lincoln’s offer of a new contract. I don’t see what we can do. Perhaps we’ll see another bump in the wage capacity as next season starts? That might be our best hope here. I make a tweak, but I don’t expect the new offer to stick, either. At Wimbledon, we see our whipper-snapper lineup struggle a bit, and fall behind early. We let them get loose, and the Dons romp to an easy win at home. Wimbledon 3, Lincoln 1. Our lone score comes on an own goal – as we remain weak on the attack without our established stars in there. Home to Grimsby, I have a couple more reliable attackers in – trying to spark at least a little offense down the stretch here. But our first goal comes from midfielder Martin Vesely, his first with us. Dean Roberts notches another in the first half, and we are in control. Lincoln 2, Grimsby 0. Not a bad effort, as all our youngsters acquitted themselves well. I’m very pleased with the early showing from Martin Vesely in particular – he might turn out to be a bigger deal than I gave him credit for initially. At home to Wolverhampton, we miss on a couple early chances, but Gary Collins keeps us scoreless through the first half. Wolves get the lead early in the second half, though, and we need to get going. A couple more good possessions go flat after bad shots, and we end up struggling to a disappointing finish. Wolves 1, Lincoln 0. We didn’t play badly, but were just unable to get one across. |
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05-04-2004, 02:12 PM
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#121 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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May 2007
Two more league matches left, and our mid-table position is pretty well secure. We are in 14th position right now, but we’re part of a giant mass of clubs stuck like this all season – we are two points out of 10th place, and four points ahead of 19th place. We play at Hull, and get ahead early after Ben Cross’s corner kick sails past everyone, but Dean Roberts jumps on it, pivots, and drives it in. We concede two quick goals, though, to slip behind in the first half. They keep their 3-2 edge through the second half – much drama both ways, but no give. Hull 3, Lincoln 2. And so we muddle our way to our season finale. I have most of the first team back in, just to try to restore continuity. I’m starting to see some of our veteran starters express concern about being on the sideline – a start to close things out might help a bit. So, we play at home to Stoke, and slag through a dreary, scoreless first half. Stoke is putting up a defensive wall, perhaps seeking a draw on the road. Turns out, it works just fine – neither side breaks through, and we end the season on a ho-hum note. Lincoln 0, Stoke 0. Bristol City manage to get the First Division title for the year, and will be promoted along with Middlesbrough and the playoff winner. Cardiff, Preston, and Coventry are relegated to the Second Division. We at Lincoln end up in 16th position – on the low end of the range I had been expecting recently. Code:
I‘m not too thrilled with the eventual result – but at least we were never really in any danger of relegation. Plus, we have a few incoming players who will give us youth and options with the club for next season. We’ll just have to watch and see how things settle out with Paul Kamara and a few of our unsettled veterans. Here’s the player performance summary for the 2006/07 season: Code:
So, there are some good notes from this season. Dean Roberts really looked like a first class striker, exceeding our expectations. It looks like Gary Collins might be the keeper of the future we’ve been looking for. And perhaps we have some intriguing youngsters among the new acquisitions – guys like Vesely, Hay (a youth pull for us), Donaghy and de Barros all seem to have some potential. On the down side – we’ve got Kamara’s form declining ever since we’ve been in contract talks and he’s been unhappy. We never got much from Miguel Angel Lucena, who was purported to be our next big thing. And we now have so many players in our midfield, that it will be practically impossible to keep them all happy. Down the road in league play, it’s Derby unexpectedly gaining the final promotion spot through the playoffs – they will head on up to the Premiership for next season. |
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05-04-2004, 02:13 PM
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#122 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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June 2007
The board remains delighted with my performance as manager – so I’ve no need to worry right away. Eventually, I’m sure they will elevate their expectations for us – but so far, I’m clearing the low bars easily. It doesn’t look like my assistant manager Adam Moran is willing to re-sign for a wage that I can afford. I will have to be looking for some new staff, it seems. Moran is okay, not too special – so it’s possible that we can do better than him. Perhaps we finally have enough clout (and cash) to raid the staff of a lower club, rather than dig through the rubbish of the unemployed (many of whom still won’t even listen to my offers). We receive £625,000 for our final position – a solid sum to tidy things up on the books, I’d say. Here’s our financial picture as we close the season: Code:
We have a season-ending balance of some £4.2 million – enough to give us a meaningful cushion for more player spending, I hope, for next season. My top priority, of course, is to find a way to settle up with striker Paul Kamara. The First Division Select team is announced – and Dean Roberts has earned a starting spot, while Paul Kamara is tabbed as a reserve. Very impressive for our first season at this level! Roberts had 23 goals – only two shy of the division leader. All four of our top stars – Roberts, Kamara, Dadic and Cross – were in the top 20 of first division average player ratings. |
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05-04-2004, 02:22 PM
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#123 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Troy, NY
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Just curious - what nationality is your manager in the game? If you're American, it's awfully hard to negotiate with the unemployed staff candidates.
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Quis custodiets ipsos custodes? |
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05-04-2004, 02:37 PM
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#124 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Quote:
Wonderful. That's me, a Yank. Nice twist. |
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05-04-2004, 11:39 PM
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#125 |
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Pro Rookie
Join Date: Oct 2000
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Unless this part has changed in the new version, once your reputation rises, your nationality should become less of a problem. It just seems to rise slowly.
Heh. I like the Hattrick-influenced term "youth pull". Hopefully Lucena just needed time to adapt. Perhaps some room to experiment as to his final destination (position-wise)? If I recall correctly, you are able to offer players to teams in CM4. Perhaps that is a possibility with Kamara? If he isn't looking to re-up, perhaps he can be translated into other strikers. |
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05-22-2004, 10:47 AM
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#126 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Seven miles up
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I had a couple of questions for you Quick.
First, do you control the Reserve and U-19 squads or let the assistant do that? What do you do about training, since you havn't really mentioned it? Third, how many players do you keep on the senior squad, and do you move them back and forth from squad to squad, or let them sit more? I am having a hard time trying to decide who and how many where with my own squad. Thanks. Great read.
__________________
He's just like if Snow White was competitive, horny, and capable of beating the shit out of anyone that called her Pops. Like Steam? Join the FOFC Steam group here: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/FOFConSteam |
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05-23-2004, 12:24 PM
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#127 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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PilotMan, I have basically delegated the lower levels and training to my staff. I don't have any sense how much I lose by doing so -- but I'm comfortable in my own game just managinng the roster and taking care of personnel decisions, plus fiddling lightly with tactics.
I generally have about 30 players on the senior squad, and have maybe a total of six or eight who bounce up and down from reserves to the top level through the season. Hope that helps. (I played a few more games with Lincoln recently - may have an update here soon) |
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05-25-2004, 01:35 AM
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#128 | |
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Pro Rookie
Join Date: Oct 2000
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Quote:
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05-25-2004, 08:06 AM
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#129 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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July 2007
We pick up a Bosman transfer in, striker Christian Blanc. He has played a bit for the French national team, and seems very talented. At 30 years old, he ought to have plenty of good football in him – I think this is a good signing. We also bring aboard 32 year old fullback Nick Bullock – who is here to help stabilize our center defense. Actually, that’s been okay for us – but the big Aussie Bullock should become a leader there, and he will be a smooth operator for our interior wall. He’s not that fast – we’ll keep an eye on his ability to stay with his man. I get an offer for defender Gary Doyle, which I accept quickly. He has never panned out like we had hoped, and picking up some cash for him will help doubly. We’re under some pressure with the wage budget this year – so moves like this might be more important than before. Watford pays £55,000 – and it’s a done deal. David Gray comes aboard as our new Assistant Manager. I believe he is a step up from Adam Moran, and will give me a shade better advice from time to time. I like the move. We have our now-traditional early-season friendly with Lincoln United, giving them a chance to play at Sincil Bank. I’m trying to use this as an early-season confidence booster for some of our borderline players. I’m also seeing players like Christian Blanc for the first time. We get a predictable walkover, but get what we want from the affair, with a 5-0 win and a nice goal in the open field from Blanc. |
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05-25-2004, 08:07 AM
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#130 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Not much there, I realize - but we've started the season in earnest, and I'll try to keep it going. I haven't forgotten - but have just gotten busy with other things.
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06-14-2004, 10:04 AM
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#132 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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The last couple of tims I have fired up CM 03/04, I have been really put off by the long delays between actions. It seems that the game has really slowed down on me -- I'm frequently waiting two or thre minutes between game days, which really gets annoying.
It's possible that it's just something I overlooked back when I was really immersed... but it sure seems a lot worse noe, and is hindering my ability to get re-immersed here. Anyone else have this happen -- seven or eight years into a career, things start to slow down even worse than before? Regardless, another update coming shortly... just one month's worth is all I could do last night. |
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06-14-2004, 10:04 AM
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#133 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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August 2007
The Lincoln board are very pleased with your performance. Expectations are that we will fight against relegation – so that’s really where the bar has been placed. I’m hoping to exceed that and perhaps even compete… but I think we certainly ought to be able to get enough wins to stave off a drop in level. We bring in 16 year old midfielder Roberto Lazzarini – he will play on a cheap contract for us, starting out with our U19 club. My hope is that he develops well, and can come up and become a reserve behind Ben Cross. He seems like a solid and promising player – and my scouts liked him a lot. We have a number of players on contracts ending after this season – and will have a lot of work to do in that regard. Included in that is a number of decisions – where to re-up and where to cut bait. And, of course, looming in the background is the situation with striker Paul Kamara, who wants a new deal but is apparently priced out of our wage range. So, it looks like we’ll be losing my favorite player at some point. We are posted at 50-1 in the opening promotion odds – so the forecast is for a “long, hard, and ultimately disappointing season.” Nice. The early pundits’ picks are Sheff Wed, WBA, and Leeds, followed by Fulham, Sheff Utd, and Crewe. We’ll be watching for them all. We start off our season at home to Leeds. At 73 minutes, tied at 1-1, we get a wonderful goal as Kamara sends it up to Christian Blanc, who finishes it with emphasis. Kamara drives for another goal later on his own, giving him two for the match and locking up the MOM honors. Lincoln 3, Leeds 1. Good start against a highly regarded foe, but we have to remember last season – where we were solid at home, but couldn’t buy a win on the road. Once we start notching points on the road, I’ll take this more seriously. I’ve got a B team in for our opener in the League Cup, against D3 Mansfield. We give up a goal at 3 minutes – not much of a start, really. And that’s all there is – 90 minutes later the final whistle blows, and we are out of the league cup – quickly. Mansfield 1, Lincoln 0 – Lincoln eliminated. We’re back home to Norwich, and looking for another good showing. This is another quiet one, and we head into injury time with an empty scoreboard. Christian Blanc gets a great chance when he intercepts a crossing pass, but his drive hits the side post and goes into the netting – and our last good chance goes begging. Lincoln 0, Norwich 0. Now we head to Wolverhapton, and face Wolves. We’re scoreless trough the first half, but Wolves get it through at 71 minutes to take the lead. And in keeping with the late trend, that’s it. Wolves 1, Lincoln 0. On the road, against any foe, we’re in trouble – situation normal. Again on the road, we head to face Crewe Alexandra. They score off a free kick at 33 minutes, and we are again behind the eight ball. At 80 minutes, they seal the deal with another goal – and of course our inept offense cannot hope to score one, much less two goals in the final minutes. Crewe 2, Lincoln 0. Last edited by QuikSand : 06-14-2004 at 10:05 AM. |
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06-14-2004, 10:57 AM
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#134 |
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Pro Rookie
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Illinois
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Glad to see this dynasty is back!
But to answer your question: no, I've not had similar slowdowns. |
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06-14-2004, 12:04 PM
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#135 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Behind Enemy Lines in Athens, GA
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Quiksand - I had glanced at this thread before, but never really read closely until today. A few questions if I may (some/most/all of which have probably been answered in other CM threads, but I really haven't followed those very much since originally dismissing the game as "not for me this time around")
-- I'm sitting here with WinMe, 850mhz PIII, 128 MB Ram: Is that going to fit the needs for running something similar to what you're doing with this dynasty? (I know lower end machines = running fairly shallow in the foreground & background) -- Under similar setup (fictional players, starting in D3 & trying to move up): Who would you recommend as an alternate club for a similar challenge? I'm looking for a team that's roughly in the same circumstances financially, talent, etc. -- In the Oct 2004 summary, you mention "top morale guys getting the call as needed.": I'm getting the distinct impression that morale is bigger influence on performance than I recall from previous CM's. Is that a fair statement? And if reasonably so, what sort of impact are we talking about here in terms of playing "lesser" players over "greater" players due to morale differences? In other words, I'm asking whether I should sit an above average reserve for an apparently below avg reserve based on a large difference in morale? Or is morale more a case of "determining between otherwise equals"? Crap, I have several other questions, but I'm being pulled away from the computer at the moment. And I'd rather post these now instead of having to start over later. Sorry to stick you with so many questions (and anybody else should free feel to chime in as they see fit) but basically it's this dynasty has me wondering if maybe I ought to pick up 03/04 after all, so I figure I'll just lump my questions together here (since it's pretty much your fault  ) |
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06-14-2004, 12:18 PM
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#136 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Quote:
I'll try my best - but I don't knwo that I have the depth to respond well. --It sounds to me like your computer can handle CM 03/04 if you are modest in your league selection. The game does seem a shade slower than the last version I played a lot(00/01) but it's tolerable. Even with the extra slowness I'm facing lately, I can getby (with another aplication running to kill a couple minutes at a time). --I have no idea about other clubs... I picked Lincoln more or less at random, and know nothing about whether they are a well-suited team to advance. I know that I really struggle with this tiny stadium even after advancing - I have to imagine that this would be the case with most clubs, though. So, I'm basically no help there. --I am depending on morale an awful lot in this career - but I can't really say whether it's becasue the game has changd or because I have changed the way I play it. I'm having pretty good success trying to ride morale -- and am frequently sitting down high quality players in place of high-morale reserve-caliber players. I figure I want to get the lesser players ome time anyway, why not try to do it when they have their best chance of succeeding. my top stars generally start anyway - but on my current team that's usually only about 3-5 starting slots, the rest are up for grabs. Anyone who is good enough to be on the team shoudl be good enough to play a match or two in case of injury - and the same guy shoudl get the occasional call when he's in good spirits and the starter isn't... at least that's how I've been managing, largely. Hope that helps, at least a little. Maybe you'll get some better answers from the other readers... of float something in the main forum, perhaps. |
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06-14-2004, 01:21 PM
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#137 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Behind Enemy Lines in Athens, GA
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Quote:
It does help actually. It seems to me that the way you're approaching this dynasty is the way I might need to approach CM 03/04 -- keep it fairly simple, use fictional players, don't make it into an all-consuming search for accuracy & realism. In other words, treat it like a game, not like the game. I guess it struck me, while reading this dynasty, that I'd be having fun if I were running the same project pretty much the same way ... and that isn't how most dynasties/campaigns strike me (even if I enjoy reading some of them). Thx, Jon |
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06-14-2004, 02:42 PM
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#138 |
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College Starter
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Sweden
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I'm in 2014 with a fictional game, six leagues, and am not experiencing slowdowns other than the usual early season logjam.
__________________
San Diego Chargers (HFL) - Lappland Reindeers (WOOF) - Gothenburg Giants (IHOF) Indiana: A TCY VC - year 2044 - the longest running dynasty ever on FOFC! |
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06-15-2004, 12:27 AM
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#139 |
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Pro Rookie
Join Date: Oct 2000
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QS . . . Glad to have this dynasty back on track.
Jon . . . You may want to up your RAM total to add some performance boost. Of course, there's always starting out with low RAM then adding some and the illusion from the improvement could make it feel fast! |
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06-16-2004, 04:10 PM
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#140 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Trouble with this dynasty right now is that the nature of CM is to move pretty slowly... and after playing all this multi-player FOF has me itchcing for a sports sim experience that I can just whip through at my own quick pace, rack up lots of seasons quickly, that sort of thing. CM isn't a good fit for that urge.
I might go back and pick up my solo FOF 2004 career... or else finally play OOTP 6 (that shoudl take me all of about three real-life days to become completely exasperated, if my previous OOTP play is a guide). |
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06-16-2004, 09:49 PM
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#141 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Colorado
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I'm told to wait for the 6.03 patch next week, as I decided to do before I start my career in OOTP.
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09-14-2004, 02:04 PM
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#142 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Just wandered back into this game recently... what a great sim this is.
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09-14-2004, 02:04 PM
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#143 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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September 2007
We start the month at home to Doncaster, and in need of a good effort. We end our goal-less dry spell early when Kamara sends a ball forward for Blanc, who sends it in for the early lead. Blanc finishes another to give us a 2-0 halftime lead, and we are in firm control of the match, for once. Doncaster scores at 56 minutes, and our firm control is loosened, but that’s as close as they get, and Kamara slams it shut with a late topper. Lincoln 3, Doncaster 1. As always, home and away are just two different stories. A remarkably talented young player, who has been playing in Argentina, has been released from his contract. I put in an offer, but have basically no hope of landing him. I expect the big buys will be hunting for the services of Dean Miller, a promising 20 year old defender/midfielder. Sure enough, the suitors come running – Bayern Munchen, Juventus, Man City, Arsenal, and so forth. Eventually, it’s Man Utd who land the big fish – to nobody’s surprise, really. Now we head to Nottingham Forest, for another road match. Can we show up and look good here? Alas, no. Down 1-0, we have one chance late when Ben Cross sends a zinging free kick goalbound, but just misses and picks up the side net instead. Nottm Forest 1, Lincoln 0. Not an awful showing, but a loss nonetheless. Home to Grimsby Town, we are inn lousy spirits, and I fear we might not even have a good home effort in us. Mario Dadic goes out injured in the first half – more bad news. We get ahead on a fabulous header from Chris Rowe, off a long free kick from newly healthy Martin Vesely. Kamara zips in a second half goal to give us a good edge, and we take the needed win. Lincoln 2, Grimsby 0. Dadic’s injury will keep him out for a couple of weeks, so we expect to be seeing a lot of Martin Vesely on the left wing. I’m optimistic that we have found a pretty solid player in Vesely – so far, so good. After a disappointing stint with our club, midfielder Miguel Angel Lucena has requested a transfer. I oblige, and put him onto the list. I was very hopeful that he would be an impact player for us – but after a full season and change, he’s fallen far short of those expectations. I hope to get some cash for him – he remains a very intriguing prospect, by his scout ratings. We have young Roberto Lazzarini in alongside Paul Kamara for his first senior squad match, on the road at Birmingham. We get lots of early pressure, and score on a weird play – Paul Kamara ends up behind the attack, but sends the ball forward for Vesely, who feeds defender Rogerio de Barros for the goal – his first of the year. We make the one goal lead stand up, and get a solid and rare road victory. Lincoln 1, Birmingham 0. Lazzarini is awarded the MOM honors – a nice bounty for the young and promising player. We are at Fulham next, and I have most of the same lineup in there, trying to capitalize on a good wave of morale. Fulham are in 3rd on the league table – so this is a daunting task to face them at their place. In the first half, there is some pressure each way, but no scoring until 35 minutes, when a deflected ball gets past Gary Collins for the Fulham lead. At 71, they make it 2-0, and it looks over. Fulham 2, Lincoln 0. |
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09-14-2004, 02:04 PM
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#144 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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October 2007
Lincoln City’s Gary Collins has won the English First Division Young Player of the Month award. The 19 year old goalkeeper has really demonstrated to everyone what a capable player he is over the last few weeks. Nice praise – reaffirming what I believe. I think we have found our long term solution at the keeper position, after a few seasons of twisting in the wind a bit. Here is the league table at this point: Code:
Once, again, we are right in the middle of a giant group that is not really in contention for a promotion slot, but not really in jeopardy of relegation either. I’d like to sneak out a few extra wins along the way, and perhaps contend for a playoff position, at least – and the key seems to be getting points while on the road. We have allowed midfielder Stuart Thomson to go to Cheltenham on a loan – he’s not getting any time with our club, and I’m happy to have then pick up his salary. Now we’re back home at Sincil Bank, facing Sheffield United. They are not off to a great start, but are a well-regarded side. Lee Connolly starts us off with a rocket long shot into the pipes for the lead at 10 minutes. They pull level at 48 minutes, and it’s a new game. Ben Cross, though, sends in his patented free kick goal to give us the edge again, and we won’t let it get away this time. Lincoln 2, Sheff Utd 1. Great effort, a wonderful match. We’re a little weary as we have a make-up match against Stoke, at home. Their tactic on defense seems to be to smother and crush Paul Kamara – not a bat strategy against us, really. We are roundly outplayed through a scoreless first half, but Kamara finally gets us ahead with a nice goal in the early second half. They tie us up, but Dean Roberts scores off a Ben Cross corner kick, and we secure the 2-1 win. Lincoln 2, Stoke 1. Chris Rowe, our solid central defender, has been injured – we’ll probably give a long look at veteran Nick Bullock. His first few matches with us didn’t set the world on fire, but he looks like he can fit well within our system, so we’ll take a better look now that the space is pretty free. At Bradford City, we have a few new faces in the lineup. After a largely quiet affair, we see back-to-back goals at the 90 minute mark, which leaves us in a deadlock. Lincoln 1, Bradford 1. We’ll take the point, but could have taken the win here without one sloppy play. We head back home, to face West Bromwich Albion – and a rare tally from “Mister Vanilla” Colin Bradshaw gives us an immediate edge. At 62 minutes, sub Martin Vesely (in for a tired Ben Cross) makes an unbelievable play, picking off the ball from his man, driving toward the goal through traffic, and then sizzling a shot through the keeper – complete individual achievement. He still makes some mistakes, but this guy has real potential. Lincoln 2, W.B.A. 0. At Ipswich, we get a nice early goal when Lee Marsh sets up Christian Blanc for an easy putaway. Paul Kamara made the nice forward pass to give Marsh (a defender) great position on the left wing – a nice play all around. Another later goal from Blanc gives us a 2-0 edge, and MOM Gary Collins makes a few nice saves to keep it that way. Lincoln 2, Ipswich 0. Always good to get a win on the road – they don’t come easily. |
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09-14-2004, 05:17 PM
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#145 |
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College Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
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great to see this getting updated again!
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09-14-2004, 07:51 PM
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#146 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Troy, NY
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Great dynasty and glad to see it updated!!
Having not played 03-04 and 'suffered' through some of CM4's shortcomings, I absolutely cannot wait to see what SI puts out with FM2005. A more functional transfer market, and more goals from non-strikers will about seal this game as the best game ever, I think. (FWIW, for anyone wondering about the transfer market in CM4, it stinks. I had a player, Jon Palmer, 28 years old - in his prime - who was averaging essentially a goal and an assist per game. Understandibly, he wanted a huge contract. Knowing I'd struggle to find the money, I listed him on the market a year and a half before his contract ended. He got not one bite - this is a player who single-handedly took us to the 3rd Division from the Conference, and then the 2nd Division, and could probably dominate 1st Division play if not the Premier League. I should have been constantly hounded by bigger clubs for this guy, yet even when offered to other teams NOBODY showed a sniff of interest.) QuikSand: Just curious - do you find the transfer market fairly 'normal' in 03-04? Any cases like the one I described above? Thanks!! ~rpi-fan
__________________
Quis custodiets ipsos custodes? |
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09-15-2004, 08:01 AM
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#147 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Two things:
1 - I don't really know whather I'm back into this career for real, of if thisw is just a flirtation. I reserve the right to walk away again if I want to... but I'm thinking of playing through some more today, for what that's worth. 2 - I'm honestly not the best judge of game mechanics, I fear. RPI-Fan, my answer to your question about the game's transfer market is that it seems pretty robust to me -- but all my experience is basically what I've written here. My best young player, Paul Kamara, is getting lots of interest and is turning down all my contract offers -- I presume that he'll eentually get bought out or will walk away. But I don't have a really clear sense of whether this is a little better, a lot better, or the same as in previous versions. I basically played one long career in CM 00/01, one short career in CM4 (ugh) and this one -- so my experience is very limited. Hope you have enjoyed... and if we continue from here, hope you stick around. |
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09-15-2004, 09:15 AM
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#148 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Fairfax, VA
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I found the transfer market in CM03/04 to be better than CM4, but still kind of tight. I have no idea how that compares to real life though. I just found it odd that some players that could start for lower division clubs and were being offered for $0, still didn't get picked up (even if their salaries were reasonable). Of course, on the other hand I've had some players that got way too much attention to the point of my having to issue "hands off" comments.
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09-15-2004, 11:39 AM
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#149 | |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Troy, NY
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Quote:
Cool - this was pretty much exactly the scenario I was wondering about. Basically means I'm not going to go buy CM03-04 for a couple months while waiting for FM2005. Here's hoping this kind of (small) issue is fixed in FM2005!!
__________________
Quis custodiets ipsos custodes? |
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09-15-2004, 12:35 PM
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#150 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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November 2007
Deleted, on account of yet another game crash. Starting to remember why I stopped playing this fucker in the first place. It has gotten painfully slow, and the craches seem to coem from time to time. Since backing up takes 5 minutes or so, I don't do it as much as I should... and today I lost 2-3 hours of progress. *sigh* Last edited by QuikSand : 09-15-2004 at 01:15 PM. |
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